Civil Rights Groups Tout Employee Free Choice Act

Media 04.2,09

Today, on the eve of the anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., national civil rights leaders held a press conference call calling for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), legislation that would make it easier for workers to organize and bargain collectively for better wages and benefits.


Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) President Wade Henderson hosted the press call with NAACP president and CEO Benjamin Jealous, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation Executive Director and CEO Melanie L. Campbell, and UC Berkeley Labor Center economist, Dr. Steven Pitts, to voice the support of the civil rights community for the bill.


For generations, unions have provided a toehold to the middle class, helping working Americans secure health care, job stability, and an opportunity for upward mobility. This is true for Americans from every background – but especially for African Americans. 



  • FACT:   African-American union members earn 28 percent more than their non-union counterparts.

  • FACT:   African-American union members are approximately 16 percent more likely to have health insurance than nonunion workers.

  • FACT:   African-American union members are approximately 19 percent more likely to have a pension than nonunion workers.

In the current economic climate, legislation like EFCA is more important than ever to the African-American community and American workers.


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“The Employee Free Choice Act will empower African Americans and all Americans to join and organize unions; to bargain for better pay, benefits and career opportunities; and to take their place in the great American middle class.” – Wade Henderson, president of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights


“Dr. King was assassinated helping to lead a struggle of sanitation workers to win the freedom to form a union and bargain collectively with their employer. The struggle of those workers continues today as Congress works to pass the Employee Free Choice Act to improve the lives of working men and women regardless of race, color or creed.” – Benjamin Jealous, president and CEO of the NAACP


“Women in the workforce, particularly African-American women, have continually struggled for equal protection and equal employment opportunities.  Often, union membership has offered women not only the added wages and benefits, but the adequate training to compete with their male counterparts. The Employee Free Choice Act strives to level the playing field for working women and especially minority women.” – Melanie L. Campbell, executive director and CEO of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation. 


“While this country in general – and the Black community, in particular – face a severe economic crisis, one long-term source of this crisis is the inadequate spending power on the part of working families. We must use this time as a chance to fix the economy so that it works for working families.  The Employee Free Choice Act is one step in this direction.” – Dr. Steven Pitts, Labor Policy Specialist at UC Berkeley Labor Center